Kejriwal in for more dissent, AAP Patiala MP says Delhi leaders undemocratic, dictatorial

Dr Gandhi termed AAP’s functioning as being “undemocratic, dictatorial and arbitrary” that, he added, was not acceptable to him as well as the other MPs.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has another rebellion at hand. This time from his MPs in Punjab, the party’s only representatives in the Lok Sabha. After lying low since the expulsion of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, their close associate and Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi has now questioned the recent reorganisation of the Punjab unit.

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On Wednesday, Dr Gandhi termed AAP’s functioning as being “undemocratic, dictatorial and arbitrary” that, he added, was not acceptable to him as well as the other MPs. His grouse is that the party has ignored the MPs and handed command of the state to 13 leaders, some of whom, he said, had “doubtful credentials while others were political novices.”

Talking to The Indian Express over the phone from Srinagar, the AAP MP said he was disappointed at the reorganisation, announced by party’s state affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh on Saturday. He added that when the the MPs had raised their voice against it, Kejriwal had sought a report card from their respective constituencies.

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“This amounts to coercion by our leaders in Delhi who are control freaks. These are pressure tactics. Why did they not ask for the report cards earlier? These are arm twisting methods and the malafide behind it is very clear,” Dr Gandhi said. He also accused AAP state convenor Sucha Singh Chottepur of installing his own team and dividing the state unit.

The AAP leader went on to add that Fatehgarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa had written an open letter to Sanjay Singh on Tuesday terming the reorganisation as being undemocratic and arbitrary. “We have spoken to Faridkot MP Prof Sadhu Singh as well. We are together in this fight. Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann is away in Canada. We have not been able to speak to him. We will get in touch with him when he returns,” he said. Dr Gandhi had earlier taken a stand that he would not speak against the party for the sake of the people of Patiala who had voted him to power.

None of the other three MPs were available for comment. Bhagwant Mann is a Kejriwal loyalist and it remains to be seen what his stand would be on the issue. He was organising rallies across the state as the party was planning the reorganisation but he has also been ignored.